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Is Kirkland Back? We Tested Kirkland Performance+ vs. Titleist Pro V1 Golf Balls
In its quarter century of dominance, the Titleist Pro V1 has become the golf ball against which all others are measured. That’s not a particularly enlightened observation, but it is an important one. It’s the number one ball in golf on Tour and with consumers by, oh, I don’t know, at least a mile—maybe more.
Every challenger, be it a new offering from a mainstream competitor or an out-of-left-field Hail Mary from a direct-to-consumer brand you’ve never heard of, tries to call out the Pro V1 for a duel in the street at High Noon. Those challengers find out there are only two types of golf balls in the duel, the Quick and the Dead. And nobody outquicks the Pro V1.
For a brief shining moment back in 2016, the original Kirkland signature had its shot. Our own testing showed that very first K-Sig had what it took to challenge the Pro V1, particularly at $30 per double-dozen. Unfortunately for consumers, that original K-Sig was a unicorn.
Due more to manufacturing limitations than lawsuits, the original K-Sig was a brief shining moment in history that COSTCO simply couldn’t replicate. Its subsequent Performance Plus golf balls were, simply put, mediocre at best. They have lived a good life, living off the reputation of the 2016 ball, but testing showed them to be short, spinny and not terribly durable.
Kirkland Version 3.0: A new hope?
COSTCO launched Version 3.0 last year. MyGolfSpy’s Ball Lab rated well below average. Its compression was all over the place, as was its sizing. The Ball Lab score of 45 may have been generous.
Now Kirkland has launched what can only be called Kirkland Signature Version 3.5. You’ll know it by the fact that it has hollow arrows on its side stamp, compared to smaller, line arrows with the original 3.0. As a preview to MyGolfSpy’s big 2025 Ball Test, we decided to conduct a preliminary head-to-head test against the 2025 Pro V1.
What we found was a combination of curious and quasi-jaw-dropping. In short, COSTCO’s new Performance+ ball corrects many of the shortcomings of its previous version. In robot testing, it proved to be slightly longer and straighter than the Pro V1 and performed similarly enough on 40-yard wedge shots.
That said, the newest Kirkland Performance+ golf ball appears to be the best ball Kirkland has released since the 2016 original. Driver spin is under control and its 97 compression makes it plenty long enough off the tee. It also has the requisite stopping power on the green to make it eminently playable.
Of the 7-iron? Well, as Meatloaf used to say, two out of three ain’t bad.
Let’s dig into the data.
About the test
To execute the test, we partnered with CoolClubs, one of the most respected names in club fitting and robot testing. The majority of testing was conducted outdoors at SunRidge Canyon Golf Club in Arizona.
Data was collected with Trackman (drivers and irons) and Foresight GCQuad (wedges).
While the larger test will be conducted at three speeds, for this smaller test the driver’s speed was set to 100 mph. Irons were tested at 81 mph while the wedge test was designed to replicate a greenside shot of approximately 40 yards.
Hot off the gauges
Before turning the test over to the robot, we took some quick measurements on our Ball Lab gauges. Note that the sample size is a bit smaller than what we would typically run for the Ball Lab. We simply wanted to get a general idea about compression, weight and diameter.
Compression
On our gauges, the Kirkland Performance+ measured 97. That’s roughly on par with the Pro V1x and a four- to five-point jump from previous Kirkland models. The Titleist Pro V1 measured 91, slightly firmer than the previous version but softer than the latest Kirkland offering.Weight
There was nothing particularly noteworthy in the weight measurements of any of the balls. The Kirkland Performance+ was slightly, but well within the confines of the USGA rules.
Diameter
The Kirkland Performance+ was, on average, the larger of the two balls. While larger is generally a disadvantage in the tour category, it is worth noting that the new model is smaller than previous Kirkland offerings, which suggests an improvement. The Titleist Pro V1 was smaller and consistent with the size of previous models. It’s near the USGA minimum limit without any real risk of crossing the line.
Consistency
Again, noting that our sample size was a bit smaller, the Titleist Pro V1 was the most consistent across the board, showing less than a three compression point difference across the sample. The Kirkland showed a six point difference.
There was nothing particularly remarkable about the weight and diameter measurements, where Titleist was again more consistent.
With that out of the way, let’s look at what happened when we hit the golf balls.
Driver data
| Ball | Ball Speed | Launch Angle | Spin Rate | Max Height | Descent Angle | Carry Yards | Total Yards |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kirkland Performance+ | 145.04 | 13.28 | 2,857 | 85.14 | 34.60 | 239.82 | 267.75 |
| Titleist Pro V1 | 144.74 | 13.31 | 2,765 | 83.52 | 34.44 | 238.44 | 266.61 |
Observations:
Ball speeds were relatively close, with the Kirkland producing the higher ball speed (not surprising given that it is also firmer). The Pro V1 launched higher while producing less spin. The Kirkland spun about 100 RPM more, although the data suggests that the new version spins appreciably less off the driver than the previous model. The Kirkland also edged out the Pro V1 in Carry and Total Distance.Driver dispersion and consistency
Observations:
While wind may have played a factor, the Kirkland Performance+ produced the tighter downrange dispersion. By the numbers, the Kirkland was slightly longer and produced a slightly tighter grouping, albeit not by a statistically significant amount.
7-iron data
| Ball | Ball Speed | Launch Angle | Spin Rate | Max Height | Descent Angle | Carry Yards | Total Yards |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kirkland Performance+ | 117.57 | 19.24 | 4,951 | 101.10 | 48.38 | 167.41 | 176.93 |
| Titleist Pro V1 | 118.24 | 18.43 | 4,765 | 98.70 | 46.67 | 173.47 | 184.32 |
Observations:
On 7-iron shots, the Pro V1 was faster, launched and flew the lowest, while producing the highest carry and total distance.
The Kirkland lagged behind in ball speed but launched and flew the highest while generating the most spin. With that, it is not surprising that it lagged a bit behind in both carry and total yards.
If nothing else, the 7-iron suggests balls with distinctly different performance characteristics.
7-iron dispersion and consistency
Observations:
On 7-iron dispersion, the Titleist Pro V1 stands out for being the tightest by a significant margin. The dispersion area for the Kirkland ball is noticeably larger, while the center point in the patterns (identified by the dot) reveals a significant difference in yardage.Wedge data
| Ball | Ball Speed | Launch Angle | Spin Rate | Max Height | Descent Angle | Carry Yards | Total Yards |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kirkland Performance+ | 43.60 | 35.93 | 5,566 | 22.43 | 41.85 | 36.78 | 41.83 |
| Titleist Pro V1 | 43.32 | 35.78 | 5,675 | 21.98 | 41.63 | 36.33 | 41.20 |
Observations:
All three balls produced very similar trajectories and distances, with Titleist holding about a 100 RPM edge in spin.As an aside, this speaks to the concept of a spin slope (in this case, low driver spin paired with high greenside spin) we discussed in our story on golf ball construction.
Differences in carry and total were minimal, less than a yard across the board.Wedge dispersion and consistency
Observations:
The scale of the chart inflates differences between balls. That said.
Even with allowances for small numbers, the Titleist Pro V1 produced the tightest dispersion on wedge shots. The Kirkland was a touch longer, but not by a meaningful amount, in my opinion.
Semi-final thoughts
We’ll have plenty more to say when our larger ball test rolls around but, for now, our takeaway is the Titleist Pro V1 was the better ball in this test. It delivered the most consistent compression, weight and diameter measurements while producing those measurably tighter dispersion patterns with both irons and wedges. If dropping $55 per dozen isn’t an issue, the Pro V1 is the clear choice.
As for the Kirkland?
If price is a factor, it’s hard to argue against the value proposition offered by the Kirkland Performance+. Though not by a large margin, it offered better driver distance and a tighter dispersion. I’m inclined to say that the result off the driver matches the Pro V1, though there are differences in how each ball gets there.
If you benefit from slightly higher spin off the driver, this Kirkland offers that, without overcooking it did in previous generations of the 3-piece ball.
Greenside spin that nearly matches the Pro V1, but that also suggests that in dropping driver spin, Costco lost a bit of short game spin in the process.
Broad strokes (and without consideration for fitting), if money is no object, Titleist remains the better ball. That said, the data suggest Costco has made significant performance improvements with this latest model.
For golfers watching their budget, it’s hard to argue anyone offers better value than Costco and Kirkland.
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